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Employment Alert
Important Advocate
General's opinion on disability discrimination
31 January 2008
The Advocate General has today handed down an important opinion on the case of
Coleman v Attridge Law & Steve Law, concerning the scope of the Equal Treatment Directive (“the Directive”) in relation to disability discrimination. Sarah Lamont sets out the details.
The Directive and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 prohibit discrimination on the grounds of disability. In
Coleman v Attridge Law & Steve Law, an Employment Tribunal asked the European Court of Justice to consider whether the prohibition on discrimination extends not only to disabled people themselves, but also to those who are associated with a disabled person, such as parents or carers.
In this case, Ms Coleman contended that she was subject to discriminatory treatment by her former employers in relation to her disabled son. Ms Colemen alleges that on her return to work following her maternity leave, examples of discriminatory treatment were that she was accused of being ‘lazy’ and using her child to manipulate her working conditions. Ms Coleman said that Directive prohibits “discrimination on the grounds of disability” and that this should be interpreted as meaning that protection should be extended to anyone associated with a disabled person; in addition to disabled people themselves. If this argument succeeds then, by extension, the Disability Discrimination Act should be interpreted so that its provisions also have this wider application.
The Advocate General (whose opinion is usually followed by the European Court of Justice) has said that the Directive protects people who, although not disabled themselves, suffer discrimination or harassment in their employment because they are associated with a disabled person. For example, if an employee was harassed because they were friends with a disabled person, this would amount to unlawful discrimination on the grounds of disability. The Advocate General has said that the treatment is on the “grounds” of disability and that applies regardless of whether the individual themselves is disabled or not. Therefore, the scope of the Directive and, by implication, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, is widened.
The Advocate General’s opinion also made reference to protection from less favourable treatment on the grounds of sexual orientation, religious belief, and age, as well as disability. The indication is, therefore, that the same interpretation of the scope of the Directive would also apply to discrimination on these grounds.
The next step will be for the European Court of Justice to decide if it agrees with the Advocate General’s opinion, and then the case will be referred back to the UK tribunal. We will keep you updated on progress.
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